Joe Rowand said the idea of music evenings began when Rebecca Newton, a longtime friend, was talking about celebrating the 28th year of her band, Rebecca and the Hi-Tones. As they were tossing about locations, she said “Why not the gallery?” and Rowand said, “Why not?” Rebecca and the Hi-Tones launched the “Little Fridays” program (a once-a-month Thursday night event) and over the past six months it has been a hit with art and music enthusiasts and local musicians.
Pam Gutlon opened her Outsiders Art Gallery in November, in spite of dire warnings this was not the time to start any sort of business, much less one that deals with art. Because her gallery is brand new, it is easier for her to vary her weekly or monthly openings. She has not settled into any sort of prescribed routine, so anything is possible and raising money for Haiti seemed just right for an event. “We raised over $500 and for a small gallery and about 100 people, I’m so proud,” Gutlon said.
Raising money for good causes is a natural for an art gallery site. The walls are interesting, the ambience is light and bright and people remember the space as inviting. Somerhill has hosted events for Habitat for Humanity and the opening of the American Dance Festival season.
While the comparison between the small, very simple Outsiders Gallery and Somerhill’s sumptuous space is like comparing an elephant to an ant, the owners of both galleries believe in art and artists, and both are swimming upstream against a torrent of tough economic times.
I managed to get over to the Outsiders event and talked with some of the people who had come in spite of warnings about snow at any moment. Linda Kornberg, former owner of Minata Jewelry and a collector of Eskimo/Inuit art, said she was there to support Gutlon and outsider art and, by the way, to give money to the Haitian effort. Kornberg told me the art of the Inuit today is highly refined but, when she began collecting, it was called Eskimo art, was very rough and was considered outsider art.
Bill Newton, a potter and one of the gallery’s artists, and his wife Joyce were there. Bill, who has no formal art training, does face jugs and threads them on a pole, making them into totems. His jugs are smiling faces full of teeth and move from gruesome to gentle, depending on your mood at the moment.
Andrea Stephens and Matt Davis were enjoying a glass of wine. They know Gutlon from their Northgate Park Neighborhood Association and are new to the gallery scene but like the idea of a woman in the art business. Donald Clary, a neighbor of Gutlon’s, said he came to support a friend and thought having an event around a charitable cause was a great idea. Clary likes art events because they are an excuse to have a good time, and hanging out around art is fun.
Ed Suarez and Ron Jones were standing nearby and both said they really like outsider art because it is accessible. They continued, “This sort of art is universal and its language is easy to understand.”
Rowand said making his gallery a music site was a win-win situation. “The $10 admission covers a glass of wine and the rest is for the musicians.” He said the musicians are very interested in having a place to play and have told him the acoustics in the gallery are exceptionally good. As for Rowand, he likes the idea of bringing people into the gallery and the more who come, the better it is for art.
He went on to describe an evening. “We just put chairs up in a very informal way around the fireplace and people can move about or sit and listen.” The audience includes regular clients and new people who come because of the music. Some have tattoos, others gray hair; they mesh because they love art and music.
Inside the Outsiders Gallery the refreshments were nibbles and wine; outside the “Only Burger” bus was parked ready for a hungry crowd. People were lining up to buy their specialty, smothered in everything a burger should have. Besides the guests at the Haitian event it was also a neighborhood family happening. In front of me was a dad and two kids and he informed them, “I told you we would go out to eat.” For the children, it was food for the stomach; for the gallery-goers, it was food for the soul.
Blue Greenberg’s column appears each week in Entertainment and More. She can be reached at blueg@bellsouth.net or by writing her in c/o The Herald-Sun, P.O. Box 2092, Durham, NC 27702. IF YOU GO
Somerhill Gallery is at The Venable Center, 303 S. Roxboro St., Durham.
Outsiders Art & Collectibles is at 718-C Iredell St., Durham.
